Method of and a machine for forming and filling trays with articles

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for loading articles in and forming a tray from a blank, comprising a die of internal dimensions of a finished loaded tray, means for assembling articles into sets of articles outside the die, means for receiving and locating a tray blank at the mouth of the die, means for arranging the articles and blanks in contact therewith through the die and continuing the movement, with the underside of the tray exposed, until the tray and articles leave the outlet end of the die.

Wilson et a1.

[ METHOD OF AND A MACHINE FOR FORMING AND FILLING TRAYS WITH ARTICLESInventors: Ian Mayor Wilson, Old Coulsdon;

Eric William Hamp, Thornton Heath, both of England Arcall Limited,I-Iackbridge, Surrey, England Filed: Aug. 21, 1972 Appl. No.: 282,387

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Augv 20, 1971 Great Britain 39170/71US. Cl 53/26, 53/35, 53/159, 53/207 Int. Cl. B65b 5/02, B65b 21/06 Fieldof Search 53/26, 35, 152, 191, 192, 53/194, 207, 159, 221, 222, 223

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1958 Ardell et a1 53/26 5/1959Boitel 53/194 X Primary Examiner-Travis S. McGehee AssistantExaminer-John Sipos Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Marn & .langarathis 5 7ABSTRACT Apparatus for loading articles in and forming a tray from ablank, comprising a die of internal dimensions of a finished loadedtray, means for assembling articles into sets of articles outside thedie, means for receiving and locating a tray blank at the mouth of thedie, means for arranging the articles and blanks in contact therewiththrough the die and continuing the movement, with the underside of thetray exposed, until the tray and articles leave the outlet end of thedie.

12 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTED DEB 10 m4 3852-336 4 sm-zar 10F 1PATENTEDuEc 10 m4 um NF 7 PATENTEDBEB 10 m4 SHEET 3 BF 7 SHEET '4 OF 7PATENTEU DEC 10 I974 I I I l I i l I I I l fig FIGA SHEET 5 OF TPATENTED DEB 101914 FIG. 5

Ill l-lllllll'cllllll'll'l-lilll. I'll W FM a H w a I l I l I I I l I II l I I I I l I l l I a FIGS - 3,852,936 PATENIEI] UEBIO I974 SHEET 7 OF7 METHOD OF AND A MACHINE FOR FORMING AND FILLING TRAYS WITH ARTICLESThe invention relates to a method of and a machine for laoding articlesin a tray.

It is known to provide a tray, for packaging a set of articles, madefrom a substantially rectangular blank of cardboard or like sheetmaterial, from British Specification No. 1,221,928, in which the trayhas a substantially rectangular base panel and a continuous surroundingperipheral wall comprising side and wall panels and integral wall cornerportions, the side and end wall panels being attached to the edge of thebase panel through fold lines and extending upwards therefrom and theintegral wall corner portions being unattached to the base panel whichhas a cut-out portion at each corner, the edge of each said cut-outportion defining a free inner edge ofa wall corner portion, the saidwall corner portions being each foldable on itself such that, when thewall of the tray is erected the length of each corner portion is reducedand the said corner portions form together with the side and end wallpanels a continuous wall around the articles in the tray.

1n the above-mentioned specification each of the wall corner portionshas two fold lines extending from the outer edge thereof to the freeinner edge and spaced apart from each other throughout their lengths ofthe said wall corner portions, means being provided for holding thepleat in its folded condition. The illustrations accompanying the abovespecification show that one of the fold lines is at right angles to thesubstantially rectangular blank, while the other of the two foldsextends from the corner of the substantially rectangular blank, while itis the intention that the dog-eared shaped pleat formed by folding theedge of the blank at these lines is to be attached to the outer surfaceof the end wall when the blank is formed into a tray.

In the method of forming trays in accordance with the present invention,substantially rectangular blanks of cardboard or like sheet material ofthe kind or similar to the kind specified in British Specification No.1,221,928 may be used, but in the formation of a tray from such a blank,it is preferred that the pleat be formed by folding along the fold linesin the opposite direction to that described in this priorspecification,which results in the dog-cared pleat so formed being pressed inwardlyofthe edge ofthe tray and its surfaces attached to one another insteadof the dog-ear being attached bodily to the outer surface of the tray asheretofore. This feature should be borne in mind when considering themethod of operation of the apparatus hereinafter described. However, themethod disclosed in this specification is not limited to use with trayblanks of the kind above referred to.

It is also known from British Specification No. 1,183,043 to provide amethod of packaging a product in a carton (of the kind described) (whichmay be a tray of the kind disclosed in Specification No. 1,221,928) in adie which comprises positioning a carton blank with its bottom paneladjacent to the mouth ofthe die with the product to be packaged on saidbottom panel, supporting said bottom panel and product by means movablewithin the die, applying pressure to the product on that surfaceopposite to the said bottom panel, moving the carton blank and productinto the die, whereby the wall panels are erected relatively to saidbottom panel while the said bottom panel and product are supported,removing the carton and product from the die and returning the bottompanel supporting means to the mouth of the die by a movement within thesaid die.

As the product to be packed is supported upon the bottom panel of thecarton blank, which latter is of a relatively flexible material,supporting means have to be provided below the bottom panel of thecarton blank to take the weight of the product, particularly if theproduct is heavy such as cans of food. Furthermore, means have to beprovided for applying pressure to the product on that surface oppositeto the bottom panel to urge the carton blank and product through thedie.

There are therefore provided in this prior construction support meansbelow the bottom panel and pressure applying means above the produce.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method and a machinefor forming and filling trays with articles which is simpler andconsequently cheaper to manufacture than the method and apparatus of theprior art above referred to.

The invention consists in a method of loading articles in a tray of thekind formed from a prepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheetmaterial having marginal portions which are adapted to be erected toform a confining wall around a base of the tray, characterised incomprising positioning a set of articles arranged in a pre-determinedpattern outside a die of internal dimensions corresponding to thedimensions ofa finished loaded tray and spaced from the mouth thereof,either previously or subsequently positioning a tray blank adjacent themouth of the die, moving the articles in said pre-determined patterntogether with the tray blank into the die other than in a downwarddirection by pressure upon the articles remote from the tray blank, withthe under surface of the tray blank exposed, and continuing the saidmovement through the die until the tray and articles leave the end ofthe die remote from the mouth.

The invention further consists in apparatus for loading articles in atray of the kind formed from a prepared blank of cardboard or othersuitable sheet material having marginal portions which are adapted to beerected to form a confining wall around a base of the tray,characterised in comprising a die of internal dimensions correspondingto the dimensions ofa finished loaded tray and having inlet mouth andoutlet end, means for assembling and positioning articles into sets ofarticles arranged in a predetermined pattern outside said die andopposite the mouth of the die, means for receiving and locating a trayblank adjacent the mouth of the die, means for contacting 'the saidarticles on their sides remote from the mouth of the die and moving thearticles in said pre-determined pattern other than in a downwarddirection into contact with the tray blank and continuing said movementwith the underside of the tray exposed, through the die until the trayand articles leave the outlet end of the die.

In apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention inwhich the movement of the tray blank and articles is in a horizontaldirection the weight of the articles is taken by the lower side of thedie and therefore there is no necessity to provide means associated withthe tray blank to support the weight as in the prior art above referredto.

Also in apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention,in which the movement of the tray blank and articles is in a verticaldirection upwards, the weight is taken by the means for moving thearticles and the tray blanks through the die, the tray blanks restingupon the articles and has no member moving through the die above it.

The accompanying drawings show, by way of example only, one embodimentof the invention in which,

FIGS. 1 and 2 are diagrammatic representations ofa side elevation of aknown type of can feed mechanism for assembling cans in a predeterminedpattern for inserting into cartons, in two conditions of adjustment,

FIG. 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2,

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are front elevation, crosssection and vertical sectionof the tray forming die constructed in accordance with the presentinvention, while FIGS. 7 a-e are isometric views of a corner of a trayforming die showing the action upon the sides and ends of the tray blankas it passes through the die.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show diagrammatically in side elevation a part of a knownapparatus for receiving and assembling cans 1 which roll down fixedsloping plates 2 from distributing means to the right of the figure, not

- shown. The plates 3 are hinged at 4 and are movable by penumaticmeans, not shown, into two alternative positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.When in the position shown in FIG. 1, the cans are unobstructed and rolldown until they reach the adjustable stops 5, each can resting upon itsadjacent one. As soon as this is complete the movable plates 3 arelowered into the position shown in FIG. 2 in order that the cans shouldassume a rectangularly disposed predetermined pattern in two blocksdefined by the rectangles 6 and 7,, which represent the dies to whichthe pattern of cans are passed when being loaded into trays. (Althoughin the apparatus illustrated the cans are assembled in two blocks, sothat two trays may be filled simultaneously, apparatus may beconstructed in which the cans are assembled in only one block and onlyone tray is filled at a time).

In order that the spacing of the cans on the plates 3 should be suitableto pass through the dies, strips 8 are provided upon the movable plates3, which are of a height which does not obstruct the movement of thecans into contact with one another when the plates are lifted as in FIG.1, but induce some of the cans to roll back to provide the necessaryspacing to suit the dies, when the plates 3 are lowered. It can be seenthat when the plates 3 are lowered the cans on the plates 2 are pushedback to provide the spacing, by the free ends of the plates 3.

The widths between the plates 2 and 3 are adjustable to accommodate cansof different sizes, and so are the stopsS.

By referring to FIG. 3, which is a section through the movable plates 3opposite one of the dies, of which there are two provided, it may beseen that a ram 9 is provided opposite each row of cans in thepredetermined pattern of cans for operation by pneumatic means, notshown, when the movable plates 3 are in the lowered position for urgingthe cans l to the right of FIG. 3 into the die, which is formed inseveral parts. The rectangular channel 10, which is of progressivelyreduced cross sectional area is provided to force the cans closelytogether, before introduction into the die, a slot ll-is provided intowhich a tray blank is inserted by way of the opening 12 from above,while the die 13 is rectangular, and of the overall size of the finishedtray positioned about the articles with its marginal portions turned upaound the cans.

The shape of the end of each ram 9 is designed to suitably cooperatewith the article being dealt with.

The shaped members 14 and the pressure wheels 15 are for the purpose ofensuring that the corners of the trays are correctly folded, and thatthe necessary pressure is applied to the dog-eared pleat to cause properadhesion of adhesive material previously applied to the tray. Thesewheels 15 may be resiliently mounted to adapt themselves to anyvariation in size of the stack of articles.

The rams 9 push the cams right through the die onto the platform 16,which is part of a hinged structure which is movable between side plates13a, which prevent a sideways movement of the cans on the trays. Thehinged structure is supported at the hinge 17 and has upstanding bars 18against which the tray stops and which support the tray with the canssecurely positioned therein when the hinge structure is moved to thelower position, as shown by the chain dotted lines 18. The hingedstructure is operated by a pneumatic cylinder 19 after rams 9 haveexecuted their full stroke, after which they return to the position asshown in FIG. 3.

The sequence of operation of the machine is as follows. At thecommencement of operation of a cycle, the movable plates 3 are in theraised position, and the rams are in the position shown in FIG. 3 andthe plat form 16 is in the lowered position. The operator inserts a trayblank in the slot 11 by way of the opening 12 and presses an operatingbutton not shown and the movable plates 3 move to the lowered positionas shown in FIG. 2. Simultaneously the platform 16 is raised to theposition shown in FIG. 3, and after a suitable interval of time to allowthe cans to arrange themselves in the predetermined pattern on theplates 3, the rams move across and press the cans against the tray blankand force the tray and contents through the die 13 on to the platform16. As soon as this happens, the platform 16 is lowered, and thepackaged cans are removed by the operator and simultaneously the rams 9return to the position of FIG. 3 and the movable plates 3 move to theposition of FIG. 1 and the machine stops. The raising of the movableplates 3 allows a fresh supply of cans to roll into the position asshown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are an elevation looking at the mouth of the die, across-section of the die and a vertical section of the die respectively.The die itself is in the form of a box without front and back, andhaving sides 20 and 21 and a top 22 and bottom 23. On the inlet or mouthside of the die is the tapered rectangular channel 10 to pack the cansclose together as they move therethrough. The slot 11 is foraccommodating a tray blank which is inserted from above by way of theopening 12. The four pressure wheels 15 are housed in apertures in thesides 20 and 21 of the die, the axles 24 of which are mounted so as tobe slidable in grooves in the member 25 against the action ofa spring,not shown, so that the wheels can adjust themselves to changing contoursof the tray as it passes through the die and apply pressure to the foldat each corner to cause the surface of the fold to adhere by the actionof tacky self adhesive or other attaching material with which thecorners of the tray areprepared. The shaped members 14 engage theweakened line of the corner and cause the formation of a dog-cared foldinwardly of the sides of the tray in a manner as will be clearlyunderstood from FIGS. 7a 7c.

The isometric views of FIGS, 7a 7e are taken from a veiw point below thebottom of the die and looking towards the mouth of the die. For sake ofsimplicity the cans are not shown, but obviously the progress of thetray blank through the die depends uponthe pressure applied by the cansto the blank. In FIG, 7a the tray blank is loosely supported in the slot11 against the mouth of the die, and is awaiting to be moved bodily in x'the direction of the arrow to the right into the mouth of the die. Theweakened lines of the tray blank are indicated at 26 and 27 to form thefolds for the corner and at the end of the tray at 28 and at the side ofthe tray at 29.

As intended the dog-eared fold is to be made inwardly of the tray andnot outwardly as mentioned in relation to the prior art, the tray blankon its motion through the die firstly meets the shaped member 14, asshown in FIG. 7b, where it presses the end of the tray inwards, leavingthe side of the tray flat with the bottom 30 of the tray. On furthermovement of the tray through the die the shaped member 14 passes throughthe slot 31 of the corner of the tray, and the sides and ends of thetray contact the sides and bottom and top of the die and are turned atright angles to the bottom 30 of the tray against the cans positionedagainst the tray, as shown in FIGS. 76 and 7d. By this time the dogearedfold 32, see FIG. 7e has been completed inwardly against the surface ofa can positioned in the corner of the tray, and by further movementthrough the die the outer surface of the corner of the tray opposite thedogeared fold 32 meets the pressure wheel 15, which presses the cornerfolds against one another and causes them to adhere by reason of theadhesive surfaces thereon.

It can be seen from FIG. 7e that it is preferred to make the edges ofthe mouth ofthe die curved as shown at 33 and 34 to avoid damaging thesides and ends of the tray as they are bent to a right angle with thebottom 30 of the tray.

In order to increase the capacity of the machine it can be seen thatthere are two rectangles 6 and 7 which represent two dies and theirassociated elements, each of which is ofthe character above described,and which operate simultaneously. Consequently, two filled trays arepresented to the operator at each cycle ofoperation of the machine.

In the machine above described by way of example, the trays and cans aremoved horizontally through the die, and the weight of the cans issupported during the packaging operation by the bottom 23 of the die. Itis also within the scope of the invention to arrange for the die to bemounted so that. the tray and cans move vertically upwards, in whichcase the weight of the cans is taken by the rams 9 mounted for movementvertically upwards through the die. The packaged tray with its cans istherefore pushed upwards through the die until it emerges at the top ofthe die, where it may be dealt with by suitable means to turn it theright way up if so desired. The tray merely rests upon the cans andthere is no necessity to provide a member in the die to press upon thetray to retain it in contact with the cans.

It is to be understood that the above description is by way of exampleonly, and that details for carrying the invention into effect may bevaried without departing from the scope of the invention claimed.

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus for loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from aprepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material havingmarginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a confiningwall around a base of the tray, in which the apparatus comprises ahollow die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions ofafinished loaded tray and having an inlet mouth and an outlet end, meansfor assembling and positioning articles into sets of articles arrangedin a pre-determined pattern outside said die and opposite the mouth ofthe die, means for receiving and locating a tray blank adjacent themouth of the die, means for contacting the said articles on their sidesremote from the mouth of the die and moving the articles in saidpre-determined pattern into contact with the tray blank and continuingsaid movement with the underside of the tray exposed, through the die tofold the marginal portions of the tray to form said confining wallaround said articles and continuing said movement through the die untilthe tray and articles leave the outlet end of the die; and

a rectangular hollow channel of progressively reduced crosssectionalarea with its sides around the mouth of the die, the articles beingmoved through said channel before contacting the tray blank, to urge thearticles into close contact before entering the die.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for receiving andlocating the tray blank adjacent the die is a slot into which the trayblank is introduced.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for contacting andmoving the articles into contact with the tray and through the die isone or more pneumatically operated rams.

4. Apparatus for loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from aprepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material havingmarginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a confiningwall around a base of the tray, in which the apparatus comprises ahollow die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions ofafinished loaded tray and having an inlet mouth and an outlet end, meansfor assembling and positioning articles into sets of articles arrangedin a pre-determined pattern outside said die and opposite the mouth ofthe die, means for receiving and locating a tray blank adjacent themouth of the die, means for contacting the said articles on their sidesremote from the mouth of the die and moving the articles in saidpre-determined pattern into contact with the tray blank and continuingsaid movement with the underside of the tray exposed, through the die tofold the marginal portions of the tray to form said confining wallaround said articles and continuing said movement through the die untilthe tray and articles leave the outlet end of the die, said die beingpositioned in a horizontal direction whereby the tray and articles aresupported by the die during movement therethrough.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 provided with support means forreceiving the loaded trays as they emerge from the die.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the support means ishingeable about a horizontal axis so that the loaded trays are hingeablefrom a vertical to a horizontal plane after being received by thesupport means.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the support means is hingedby pneumatic ram means.

8. A method of loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from aprepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material havingmarginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a confiningwall around a base of the tray, in which the method comprisespositioning a set of articles arranged in a predetermined patternoutside a die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions ofa finished loaded tray and spaced from the mouth thereof, positioning atray blank adjacent the mouth of the die, moving the articles in saidpre-determined pattern together with the tray blank into the die in ahorizontal diection by pressure upon the articles remote from the trayblank, with the under surface of the tray blank exposed, to fold themarginal portions of the tray to form said confining wall around thearticles and continuing the said movement through the die until the trayand articles leave the end of the die remote from the mouth.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the marginal portions of the tray areformed to provide said confining wall in direct contact with thepredetermined pattern of articles at the periphery thereof whereby thearticles are held together by the marginal portions of the tray afterhaving passed through the die.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the die has internaldimensions which form the marginal portions of the tray into saidconfining wall in direct contact with the periphery of said articleswhereby the articles are held together by the marginal portions of thetray after having passed through the die.

11. Apparatus for loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from aprepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material havingmarginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a confiningwall around a base of the tray, in which the apparatus comprises ahollow die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of afinished loaded tray and having an inlet mouth and an outlet end, meansfor assembling and positioning articles into sets of articles arrangedin a pre-determined pattern outiside said die and opposite the mouth ofthe die, means for receiving and locating a tray blank adjacent themouth of the die, means for contacting the said articles on their sidesremote from the mouth of the die and moving the articles in saidpre-determined pattern into contact with the tray blank and continuingsaid movement with the underside of the tray exposed, through the die tofold the marginal portions of the tray to form said confining wallaround said articles and continuing said movement through the die untilthe tray and articles leave the outlet end of the die; and said dieincluding shaped members and pressure wheels to insure correct foldingof the marginal portions of the tray and pressure wheels to joinadjacent marginal portions of the tray.

12. Apparatus for loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from aprepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material havingmarginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a confiningwall around a base of the tray, in which the apparatus comprises ahollow die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions ofafinished loaded tray and having an inlet mouth and an outlet end, meansfor assembling and positioning articles into sets of articles arrangedin pre-determined pattern outside said die and opposite the mouth of thedie, means for receiving and locating a tray blank adjacent the mouth ofthe die, means for contacting the said articles on their sides remotefrom the mouth of the die and moving the articles in said pre-determinedpattern into contact with the tray blank and continuing said movementwith the underside of the tray exposed, through the die to fold themarginal portions of the tray to form said confining wall around saidarticles and continuing said movement through the die until the tray andarticles leave the outlet end of the die; and

support means for receiving the loaded trays as they emerge from thedies, said support means being mounted for hinged movement about ahorizontal axis whereby loaded trays emerging from said die and receivedby the support means are moveable from a vertical to a horizontal plane.

l l =l

1. Apparatus for loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from a prepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material having marginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a confining wall around a base of the tray, in which the apparatus comprises a hollow die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of a finished loaded tray and having an inlet mouth and an outlet end, means for assembling and positioning articles into sets of articles arranged in a predetermined pattern outside said die and opposite the mouth of the die, means for receiving and locating a tray blank adjacent the mouth of the die, means for contacting the said articles on their sides remote from the mouth of the die and moving the articles in said pre-determined pattern into contact with the tray blank and continuing said movement with the underside of the tray exposed, through the die to fold the marginal portions of the tray to form said confining wall around said articles and continuing said movement through the die until the tray and articles leave the outlet end of the die; and a rectangular hollow channel of progressively reduced crossSectional area with its sides around the mouth of the die, the articles being moved through said channel before contacting the tray blank, to urge the articles into close contact before entering the die.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for receiving and locating the tray blank adjacent the die is a slot into which the tray blank is introduced.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for contacting and moving the articles into contact with the tray and through the die is one or more pneumatically operated rams.
 4. Apparatus for loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from a prepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material having marginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a confining wall around a base of the tray, in which the apparatus comprises a hollow die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of a finished loaded tray and having an inlet mouth and an outlet end, means for assembling and positioning articles into sets of articles arranged in a pre-determined pattern outside said die and opposite the mouth of the die, means for receiving and locating a tray blank adjacent the mouth of the die, means for contacting the said articles on their sides remote from the mouth of the die and moving the articles in said pre-determined pattern into contact with the tray blank and continuing said movement with the underside of the tray exposed, through the die to fold the marginal portions of the tray to form said confining wall around said articles and continuing said movement through the die until the tray and articles leave the outlet end of the die, said die being positioned in a horizontal direction whereby the tray and articles are supported by the die during movement therethrough.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 provided with support means for receiving the loaded trays as they emerge from the die.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 in which the support means is hingeable about a horizontal axis so that the loaded trays are hingeable from a vertical to a horizontal plane after being received by the support means.
 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the support means is hinged by pneumatic ram means.
 8. A method of loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from a prepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material having marginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a confining wall around a base of the tray, in which the method comprises positioning a set of articles arranged in a pre-determined pattern outside a die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of a finished loaded tray and spaced from the mouth thereof, positioning a tray blank adjacent the mouth of the die, moving the articles in said pre-determined pattern together with the tray blank into the die in a horizontal diection by pressure upon the articles remote from the tray blank, with the under surface of the tray blank exposed, to fold the marginal portions of the tray to form said confining wall around the articles and continuing the said movement through the die until the tray and articles leave the end of the die remote from the mouth.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the marginal portions of the tray are formed to provide said confining wall in direct contact with the predetermined pattern of articles at the periphery thereof whereby the articles are held together by the marginal portions of the tray after having passed through the die.
 10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the die has internal dimensions which form the marginal portions of the tray into said confining wall in direct contact with the periphery of said articles whereby the articles are held together by the marginal portions of the tray after having passed through the die.
 11. Apparatus for loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from a prepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material having marginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a coNfining wall around a base of the tray, in which the apparatus comprises a hollow die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of a finished loaded tray and having an inlet mouth and an outlet end, means for assembling and positioning articles into sets of articles arranged in a pre-determined pattern outiside said die and opposite the mouth of the die, means for receiving and locating a tray blank adjacent the mouth of the die, means for contacting the said articles on their sides remote from the mouth of the die and moving the articles in said pre-determined pattern into contact with the tray blank and continuing said movement with the underside of the tray exposed, through the die to fold the marginal portions of the tray to form said confining wall around said articles and continuing said movement through the die until the tray and articles leave the outlet end of the die; and said die including shaped members and pressure wheels to insure correct folding of the marginal portions of the tray and pressure wheels to join adjacent marginal portions of the tray.
 12. Apparatus for loading articles in a tray of the kind formed from a prepared blank of cardboard or other suitable sheet material having marginal portions which are adapted to be folded to form a confining wall around a base of the tray, in which the apparatus comprises a hollow die of internal dimensions corresponding to the dimensions of a finished loaded tray and having an inlet mouth and an outlet end, means for assembling and positioning articles into sets of articles arranged in pre-determined pattern outside said die and opposite the mouth of the die, means for receiving and locating a tray blank adjacent the mouth of the die, means for contacting the said articles on their sides remote from the mouth of the die and moving the articles in said pre-determined pattern into contact with the tray blank and continuing said movement with the underside of the tray exposed, through the die to fold the marginal portions of the tray to form said confining wall around said articles and continuing said movement through the die until the tray and articles leave the outlet end of the die; and support means for receiving the loaded trays as they emerge from the dies, said support means being mounted for hinged movement about a horizontal axis whereby loaded trays emerging from said die and received by the support means are moveable from a vertical to a horizontal plane. 